In
1492, the first known European explorers reached the Caribbean region when
Christopher Columbus, sailing under the Spanish flag, landed in the Bahamas.
For nearly 50 years after, very few ships sailed in the region.

In
1499 Alonzo de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci, sailing together, reached the northern
coast of South America in the region of Suriname. They then sailed west along
the coast of Guyana. Vincente Yanez Pinzon in 1500 also sailed along the Guyana
coast, but no attempt to land was then made, with the exception of an unsuccessful
effort by Pinzon in the neighbourhood of the Amazon.

Immediately
after the territorial discoveries were made by Columbus, King Ferdinand and
Queen Isabella petitioned Pope Alexander IV to recognise the "new" lands as
Spanish possessions. At that time, the Pope's declaration was regarded as
the supreme law in the Christian world, and it was important for Spain to
win papal recognition of its discoveries, particularly at the same time when
Portuguese explorers were reaching lands in Africa and Asia. The Portuguese
had also approached the Pope to recognise their African "discoveries" as their
legal possessions.

In
1493, as a result of these requests, the Pope drew on a map a north-south
line 100 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands and proclaimed that all lands
discovered west of that line belonged to Spain. When the Portuguese objected
that the line was too near to Africa, the Pope, after consultations with the
Portuguese and Spanish sovereigns, in 1494 drafted the Treaty of Tordesillas
by which the line was shifted to 270 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands.
Thus, the American continent, with the exception of Brazil, fell under Spanish
domination.

The
Treaty of Tordesillas is significant because it would be used in later years
by Venezuela, who inherited Spanish rights after independence, to lay claim
to nearly the whole of Essequibo. However, it is important to note that, except
for the rulers of Spain and Portugal, other European sovereigns never recognised
this Treaty which divided the world between Spain and Portugal.

By
the year 1500, the coast from the Amazon to the Orinoco began to be referred
to as Guyana. At first little attention was placed on exploring this region.
Actually, the Spaniards only began to take an interest in South America when
Pizzaro found gold in Peru.

In
Colombia, the Spaniards learned about the legend of El Dorado and his golden
city of Manoa. They tried desperately to find the fabled golden city there,
and after they failed, they moved eastwards to look for it in the Guyana region.

Many
expeditions came to Guyana. An important one was led (about 1530) by Don Pedro
Malaver da Silva who investigated the region between the Essequibo River and
the Oyapok River to the west. His expedition was a disaster and all, except
one member of his party, were killed by the Caribs. The lone survivor Juan
Martinez, according to his own story, begged the Caribs to spare his life
which they did. He lived with them in the Caroni district for ten years, and
then escaped by way of the Essequibo River to the island of Margarita on the
coast of Venezuela. There he told people of his experience and said that he
was living in the golden city until he escaped.

Not
much is known about Martinez. Another account says that in 1531 he was a crew
member of a ship captained by Don Diego de Ordas on an expedition up the Orinoco.
Martinez was in charge of the munitions, but after the gunpowder exploded,
he was punished for his negligence by being set adrift in a canoe. It was
in this manner that he was found by his captors.

The
Legend of El Dorado

In
one version of his tale, Juan Martinez related that his Amerindian captors
blindfolded him, and after a forced march for four days, took him to their
city. His blindfold was removed and he was astounded at the sight before him.
As far as he could see were houses made of gold and precious stones. For an
entire day, they marched him through the golden city, which was built on the
banks of a lake named Parima (in the area of the Rupununi), until they arrived
at the palace of their king, El Dorado. The king ordered that he should be
treated well, but prevented him from leaving the city which was called Manoa.
According to Martinez, El Dorado was bathed with gold dust and anointed with
fragrant spices and herbs each day.

After
many months, Martinez longed to return to his own people. At first El Dorado
refused, but finally relented. He gave him a large quantity of gifts of gold
and precious stones and provided him with guides to lead him to the Orinoco
River. However, on the way hostile Amerindians attacked them but Martinez
managed to escape, despite being wounded, with two gourds of gold beads. Somehow,
he managed to reach Margarita where he related the tale to priests who nursed
him of his wounds.

This
story, which was probably aimed at winning sympathy for himself, fired the
imagination of many adventurers and soon the existence of a golden city in
the Guyana region was much talked about in Europe.

While
there existed many stories of the location of the mythical Manoa in Andean
locations in Peru and Colombia, it was the Spanish Governor of Trinidad, Antonio
de Berrio, who was responsible for fixing its site in the boundaries of Guyana.
He himself made three expeditions to the region in 1584, 1585 and 1591. After
he sent his lieutenant Domingo de Vera to make further explorations in 1593,
Berrio declared that the city was near the source of the Caroni River, an
eastern tributary of the Orinoco.

The
Spaniards under Berrio were unable to get further into the interior. Sir Walter
Raleigh, writing of 1595, stated that Berrio "dare not send any of his soldiers
any farther into the land than to Carapana, which he called the port of Guiana".
Large reinforcements arrived from Spain and they were put under the command
of Domingo de Vera in 1596, so that Berrio had at his disposal some 470 men.
He was able to, at once, send an expedition in the supposed direction of the
fabled city of Manao. But the column was cut off by the Amerindians with the
loss of over 350 men, and famine and pestilence decimated those who remained.